Legal counsels Rahmat Taufit (left) and Erwinsyah (right) at the preliminary examination hearing for Case No. 101/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 on the Teluk Bintuni regent election results dispute, Wednesday (1/15/2025). Photo by MKRI/Bayu.

---

JAKARTA (MKRI) — Teluk Bintuni regent-vice regent candidates 02 Daniel Asmorom-Alimudin Baedu alleged that violations occurred at 18 polling stations (TPS). These violations involved voters on the final voter list (DPT) who had already exercised their voting rights but subsequently returned to vote at other polling stations.

The preliminary examination hearing for Case No. 101/PHPU.BUP-XXIII/2025 was presided over by Constitutional Justices Arief Hidayat (panel chair), Anwar Usman, and Enny Nurbaningsih on panel 3 on Wednesday, January 15, 2025. The Teluk Bintuni regent election was contested by three candidate pairs with the following vote acquisitions: Candidate Pair 01 Yohanis Manibuy and Joko Lingara received 21,068 votes, Candidate Pair 02 (the Petitioners) secured 16,130 votes, and Candidate Pair 03 Robert Manibuy and Ali Ibrahim Bauw obtained 3,468 votes.

Legal counsel Rahmat Taufit argued that the violations met the requirements for a revote as stipulated in Article 112 of Law No. 10 of 2016, which amends Law No. 1 of 2015 on the Stipulation of Government Regulation in Lieu of Law No. 1 of 2015 on the Election of Governors, Regents, and Mayors into Law (Regional Election Law). Consequently, they filed a petition to annul the KPU (Elections Commission) Decree No. 77 of 2024 on the certification of the 2024 Teluk Bintuni regent election results dated December 4, 2024.

The violations involved voters who had already exercised their voting rights and then cast votes again at different polling stations, particularly in East Bintuni. Specific instances include: one individual from TPS 11 who voted again at TPS 17; one individual from TPS 20 who voted again at TPS 19; one individual from TPS 14 who voted again at TPS 19; one individual from TPS 21 who voted again at TPS 19; one individual from TPS 17 who voted again at TPS 19; one individual from TPS 2 who voted again at TPS 19; one individual from TPS 16 who voted again at TPS 19; and one individual from TPS 21 who voted again at TPS 19. Additionally, one voter unregistered in the final voter list (DPT) cast a ballot at TPS 1 Irarutu III, Babo District.

“There was a violation meeting the requirements for a revote under Article 112 of the Regional Election Law. The Petitioners raised objections to both the Panwas [supervisory committee] and Bawaslu of Teluk Bintuni; however, these objections were not addressed by the Bawaslu,” stated Rahmat in the panel 3 courtroom.

Vote Buying

In addition to double voting, the Petitioners also accused the campaign team of Candidate Pair 01 (Relevant Party) of engaging in vote buying or “money politics”, which reportedly aimed at influencing voters in Pera-Pera Village, Tomu District; Kalitami Village, Kamundan District; and Weriagar Village.

The money politics conducted by Yohanis Manibuy and Joko Lingara is viewed as a structured, systematic, and massive (TSM) violation. This is further supported by the alleged bias of the Teluk Bintuni KPU and the Teluk Bintuni Regency Bawaslu (Elections Supervisory Body), who failed to follow up on the Petitioners’ report.

“Money politics [occurred] in only a few places, where the [campaign] team of Candidate Pair 01 gave money to voters. The amounts varied, Your Honors—some received one million, others 500 thousand, and some 700 thousand. It has been reported, but there has been no follow-up to this day,” stated Rahmat.

Additionally, Rahmat reported that there was a closed meeting attended by 15 heads of the polling station working committee (KPPS) and a member of the Teluk Bintuni Regency DPRD (Representative Council), during which Candidate Pair 01 was present. The meeting allegedly discussed strategies for mobilizing support for the victory of Yohanis Manibuy and Joko Lingara. “We have also reported this incident, and the evidence is available,” added Rahmat.

In their petitums, the Petitioners requested the Court to annul the KPU Decree No. 77 of 2024 on the certification of the 2024 Teluk Bintuni regent election results dated December 4, 2024. They further requested that the Teluk Bintuni KPU be ordered to conduct a revote at 76 polling stations, with details as follows: 47 polling stations in Bintuni District, five polling stations in Babo District, six polling stations in Aroba District, and 18 polling stations in Manimeri District. The revote should be conducted transparently and involve all candidate pairs.

Author              : Nawir Arsyad Akbar
Editor                : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR                    : Tiara Agustina
Translator         : Nazila Rikhusshuba/Yuniar Widiastuti (NL) (RA)

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.

---